#she was my first step into the fandom along with I still remember everyone who said nice things about her <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[jesuis-assez]

I know we’re all struggling with this endless hiatus and the lack of new content, so I thought it would be fun to resurrect the #chenfordchats that were circling around the fandom earlier this year. (I can’t remember if you were here at the time, but you can search that tag to see what it’s all about… it’s basically just a Q&A.) We previously did a question on favorite Tim Bradford quotes, so this time let’s do Lucy! What are your favorite 3-5 (or more if you want) Lucy Chen quotes from the entire series 😊

I started watching the show in February of this year 🤔 Ok. More like binged. It took me a LONG (I do mean long) time before I decided to watch The Rookie. It was the gif-sets on tumblr, that first had me interested. It seems this is where I do my show shopping 🤣.

Although, I had been following people, who were\are invested in the show, or rather Tim and Lucy. I've been here in spirit since the pilot. I remember seeing gif-sets going that far back. Well into...

Lucy saving Tim on her SECOND SHIFT (not first)

Them sharing a drink together in what could be their final moments on earth

Lucy pranking Tim on her last day as a rookie (There were a few people upset that this meant they'll never bring them together)

The prelude of romantic chenford in 3x14 with Tim undressing Lucy with his eyes in her green dress. All the flirting that happened there.

The almost kiss in 4x01 with them lying awake in separate rooms with thoughts of each other, wanting to give in and go to the other.

Tim pranking Lucy in 4x21 and people uncertain whether they were actually going there with them

Them finally kissing in 4x22 with everyone losing their minds and few people worried that the show might not get picked up for a s5

Their undercover episode in 5x01 and everyone excited to see what will unfold from there.

I had no context. I literally thought these two were like every other cop show, where they were just partners. Partners who had feelings for each other, that they just hadn't realized it yet. I had no idea they were training officer and rookie, then eventually friends\partner\co-workers.

So, I had been lurking for a long time. I already knew everything that had happened with Tim and Lucy. I knew they were together and I thought... Well, now is the time. Kind of a... You don't want to start something, unless it feels right kind of thing? I also didn't want to watch, get invested in them only for them not to be together.

My first gif-set was around the time that Tim and Lucy broke up 🤣 I came along during the chaos of that. I do remember chenfordchats coming back after season 6 wrapped up. I was a part of that briefly.

And I remember favourite quotes between the two of them being a prompt for the Lucy\Tim appreciation event. At the time, I could only think of one quote that really resonated with me from Lucy, which was this one:

Bare with me.. I do not feel very wordy today 🤣 So imma push through that.

Lucy spent the entirety of this episode feeling that she had to prove she was strong enough to be able to testify against Rosalind Dyer. That this is something she had to do. That's always been Lucy. She's always felt like she has something to prove. Either to herself or to others. Feeling that she's not good enough. Or that she'll let others down. Whether that be to her parents (Where this likely stems from), her career, Tim and working undercover. And to see her come to that realisation that this is something that she doesn't need to prove to anyone was such a powerful moment. For her to own that.

Tim's words from 2x12 having had such an impact on her, to have stayed with her all this time. Those words still providing her a sense of comfort and empowerment. To see her step back into her own power, after seeing her touch that tattoo all episode long (something she always does, as sort of a habit. Her way of reminding herself that she can get through this as well. Get through another major ordeal) , a permanent reminder of what she went through. It's like she uses that as a way to draw in some strength needed in the moment. But, also it being a reminder of her being able to turn that truly horrific and traumatic event in her life into something positive.

That she survived that. That tattoo no longer being a representation of her being a 'victim' of this only being something that was done to her, but rather a survivor, who can handle any challenge or battle that comes her way (because she is capable and has proven that many times before)

I dug a little deeper, and managed to come up with at least five more:

That is exactly what Tim needed to hear in that moment and the right thing she could've said, as someone who hasn't been through that. Especially someone who is coming into this from an outsider's perspective. Tim's sister had a completely different experience of abuse to that of what he experienced, despite living in the same household.

I really feel that Genny emotionally invalidated what Tim went through. She completely trivialized his long-term trauma of abuse from their father, because she came out of that differently. She found a way to reconcile with their father and come to terms with everything that happened, so therefore he should as well. Just the lack of empathy and how insensitive she was towards him to force this issue on him. He needed to deal with that in his own way, or at least have the choice (even if it's unhealthy) to not deal with it at all. The audacity she had to show up at his workplace and demand that of him, to unpack all of that trauma for her convenience. I won't delve into this extensively.. Maybe some other time, if I even remember or want to 🤣

But, in a nutshell... Lucy's influence, empathy, careful choice of words and understanding of who Tim is as a person is what allows Tim to see that he and his sister need to be a source of support for each other during this. Y'know... It not being so 'one sided' where it's only about Genny's feelings about their childhood and what she wants, to the point of Tim's feelings being disregarded.

And then there's this scene: ( I'll touch on it a little bit)

I love what Lucy says to Tamara here. This is a scene that really cultivates Lucy's character. Who she is and the kind of cop she is and continues to aspire to be. Her ability to see people for who they really are behind the masks they show everyone else. Her way of being there for others and never giving up on them. Showing Tamara through kindness and empathy, that she has better options and that she is someone she can trust. There is better out there. Lucy was really someone Tamara needed in her life, someone who genuinely wanted to support and help her. She didn't write her off as just some troubled youth, but as someone who was really struggling. A kid in need. In need of family, friendship, support, love, guidance, kindness.. a home. All these things that Lucy would eventually give her and effectively change her life for the better. Ooh .. I teared up a little bit on this one 🤣

Honorable mentions:

+

Thank you for the ask 💖✌ You are a very beautiful writer, may you never lose your love for that and always feel connected to it . [x] Your story here is beautifully written as most of your stories often are. It's the one I instantly thought of, when your writing came to mind. The first story of yours that my mind happily stored away.

The plot for this being so unique and wonderfully crafted to wove together a truly beautiful piece of writing. I hope you feel incredibly proud of your writing, as your newest stories reflect how much dedication and growth that has transpired since then.

[fivepebble]

I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR HFJONE CLANGEN RUN PLEEEAAASE it looks so cool... so dramatic... so silly...

I'm still trying to stitch up the story, the generator leaves a lot of things unexplained which means I have to fill in the blanks. but here's how the beginning and first few deaths went:

Bryce is leader, Liam is deputy, Charlotte is the medicine cat, Amelia is the mediator. there's also Stella, Owen and Kylie as warriors and Airy as a kit (which was a joke based on how the fandom infantilizes him and also my attempt to prevent him from having romantic interactions with anyone, which unfortunately did not work later on when he grew up lmao)

Amelia and Charlotte were friends straight off the bat, as well as Owen and Liam, and Bryce and Stella. Airy did not get along with anyone, and he and Liam hated each other the most. I remember a particular patrol where Airy fell in a hole and Liam called him an idiot while standing by and refusing to help him. keep in mind that Airy is troublesome, which makes him annoying, but he's never actually done anything wrong at this point. Liam was generally pretty rude to everyone except Owen, but in my head I interpreted it as him not understanding social cues because usually these interactions were more him disregarding boundaries than being malicious.

In the meantime, Owen and Kylie were having a sort of swiftpaw and brightpaw arc. Owen wanted to be made deputy eventually and was constantly going out on patrol with her and looking for these dogs that they smelled on the border, and they did actually end up finding them. fortunately though they were actually able to lead the dogs away from the territory and didn't get hurt.

The first outsider we found was a cat we decided was Texty, who got hit by a car and had a pretty bad head injury. They were injured for a couple months and they developed failing eyesight as a result. In this time Owen and Charlotte got together, and Charlotte was expecting his kits.

Then the first death happened, the camp caught on fire. I don't know what caused it but I'm writing in that a bird carried in a burning branch from a wildfire nearby. Texty got caught in the medicine den and Stella returned to help them. Texty was able to get out but Stella got trapped in turn and ended up burning to death. Bryce was really fucked up about it especially and i remember that his vigil was pretty heart wrenching with him basically having to be coerced away from her body after sitting with her all night. Shit sucked.

Pretty much immediately after this, Liam got grabbed by an eagle due to the lack of cover. It eventually dropped him and he broke his leg on impact. Airy dragged him back to camp, where Charlotte was in labour, and as the only medicine cat she wasn't able to give Liam any treatment then or while recovering. His broken leg got infected and eventually killed him. Owen was grief stricken due to this and was actively neglecting his newborn kits for a while, but he did eventually recover and step up again. We called Charlotte's kits "the moldings."

Bryce made Owen deputy in Liam's place, and after having a conversation about Liam's death with Charlotte, to my surprise he stepped down and retired early. In my head he saw himself being Liam's deputy specifically, and couldn't be okay with replacing him. Kylie became a stand-in deputy after that. In the meantime we started teaching Texty to be a medicine cat so what happened with Liam wouldn't repeat itself.

wow i wrote a lot! that's all for now though.

[lucigoo]

Fic authors self rec! When you get this, reply with your favorite five fics that you've written, then pass on to at least five other writers (except me because obvs I have done it). Spread the self-love ❤

Thank you so much Sunny. i put this off until I had fiished editing a certian fic, and then forgot so better late then never right? Im a terribly self indulgent writer. I know what I ike and have no main plans for my fics apart from an ending, so im as suprised as my readers with some of them. But when you have one that hits your heart, it hits your heart, you know?

(With all my fics, please mind the tags, they are all relevent to what your reading) 1) It Was Never What It Seemed - this fic took me over a year to finish and it wouldnt have been possible wthout you @sunnyrosewritesstuff and the Bagginshield book club.

Summary: It has been 8 years since Bilbo has lest stepped foot in Erebor. He needs to talk to his husband, especially as he is now about to marry another. Another who is not Bilbo.

Bilbo left and when he did he left Thorin broken hearted. Now he is to marry a Blacklock Princess, consequences be damned.

Follow along with our favourite dwarf and hobbit as they find their way back to one another, No matter how painful the journey is.

2) Stop me Fading - I have shared the story how my then 11 year old cried about "Bilbo's bf dying" and it got me back into fandom. it took me nearly 2 years to re edit/write it, but this fic is very close to my heart. Summry: It is a few weeks after the battle, Thorin, Fili and Kili are still in danger from their wounds.

Bilbo has been shunned by all, including the Company, as such there is a sad, lonely, hobbit wandering around the camps, trying to help everyone but himself.

3) Changeling Child - This is actually one of the first Bagignshield fics I wrote and I still adore it. Summary: Thanks to his Stone headed nephews, Bilbo now has a new quest. One that needs cleverness and diplomacy. Not the reckless battle tactics of dwarrow.

This is the most important quest Bilbo will ever go on, even more imprtant then facing a dragon. For the most important being in his life.

4) Mahal, Why Have you Forsaken Me? - I often feel Dis is under represented in this fandom and I can't help but ove her. The tragic Dwarrowdam who lost everything and I enjoy writing about here.

Summary: Dis is packing up the things of her children's that she will take to Erebor with her. Things they will never need again. Things that are all she has left of them.

5) I'm coming Petite Étoile - my obligtory Wolfstar fic, I just love how this one turned out tbh.

Summary: Sirius Black has heard his brother is going to get the mark.

Due to The Incident with Snape, he has no one to turn to.

He has been protecting his brother from their family ever since he could remember.

He would do the same today, even if it cost him his life.

Im not sure who else has been tagged so i aplogise if oyu were already. (Non obligotory tags) for @brandileigh2003, @loopyloo2610, @shipper47, @littleoldrachel, @spillthebea

[marciabrady]

Sorry if you've already answered something like this before but I'd like your thoughts on cinderella 3? As a huge cinderella fan I can see the appeal it has to the wider audience but idk I've never gelled with it?

No worries! I'm in the same boat as you, for a multitude of reasons. I still remember, when I saw the third movie for the first time, thinking it was okay but then never wanting to watch it again. Something about it didn't ring true, but it just wasn't on my mind much and I never felt compelled to revisit it (as opposed to the original which I rewatched on a daily basis at a certain point of my life). Then, later, as an editor, I returned to it to continue engaging with the Cinderella fandom by giffing things that hadn't been made before. I tried to admire it for a while, because that film brought many people to Cinderella that otherwise didn't like her but...the more I sit with it, the more I realize how much it isn't for me. Now, it isn't that it's bad. That's a subjective thing, obviously, and it has a comparatively higher production value for a film of its kind. However, I think the way the film presents itself as blending with canon is extremely flawed and I think it's led the fandom to a lot of conclusions that I'm downright uncomfortable with. It's fine as its own thing, but I'm growing increasingly uneasy with it being considered a canonical part of the fandom.

Cinderella herself. No adaption of Cinderella ever gets Cinderella right (the live action is the worst offender) but I think, in some ways, it's more glaringly obvious here because it's supposed to be a direct continuation of the one media that did get Cinderella right? No one could ever live up to Ilene Woods' Cinderella, and I know that's an impossible assignment, due in no small part to how natural she was in the role and how it overlapped with certain areas of her personal life. Jennifer Hale is fine enough but her performance doesn't ever feel distinctly Cinderella and seems more suited for the video game performances that she's amassed a ton of critical and commercial success with. While she's given interesting responses regarding her view of Cinderella, I don't think I'd trust her with carrying the mantle (again, she's said intelligent things but she downplays Cinderella by insinuating she was limited in the first movie and how her own portrayal is more of a 'warrior' and how Cinderella is everyone's favorite princess until they grow up and 'rightfully' start to like more action oriented princesses). The film itself doesn't even understand Cinderella and just gives her a Belle and Ariel redesign, along with a soaring Broadway song where they completely change her singing style. It also changes her entire motivation to be fighting for love (a step back and not how she was in the original, I also think it lends credence to criticisms saying she's silly for only falling in love after one dance unfortunately whereas the original, in my opinion, didn't fall into that trap) and there's so many instances where they frustratingly make her slow ("Lift the spell- make him remember!! Bi- ahh!!"). I also think she's relegated to a side character in her own film and Anastasia is treated infinitively better, which is an issue to me. I also hate how they robbed her of her greatest victory. Cinderella producing the slipper and being her own savior might be my favorite scene in film history. Taking that away from her and making her openly stumble in front of Lady Tremaine, someone who just locked her in the attic and abused her her entire life, was...a choice. Just like her almost handling her *glass* slipper to Lady Tremaine, only for it to be broken, was. It just made her look dense and the entire thing came across as un-cohesive with what was previously established. Like, I'm sorry but...

This Cinderella was so raw, so layered, gritty, real. She grew up in an abusive household with no resources, skillfully masterminding her own exit. She understood the nuances of her captor, and always kept one trick up her sleeve. When she descended upon the staircase, she made her way through her stepfamily actively discouraging her- an orphan with no one else in the world- to the visiting nobility. They called her ridiculous, impossible, out of her mind, just a scullery maid from the kitchen- an imaginative child. She made her way past them, knowing that- if the grand duke believed them or left or if any detail of her plan fell through- she'd forever be stuck with these three women that would practically kill her once the door shut. But she persisted, and even when Lady Tremaine thought she was the one with the trick up her sleeve, smashing the glass slipper, Cinderella pulled a reverse uno and produced something no one else thought possible- the slipper's mate. Compare that to...

The third movie where Cinderella has to run down the stairs, escaping from her attic entrapment, and waves around her glass slipper in front of her stepmother, explaining to her in full detail that transpired the night previously at the ball, putting herself in a position that 4 seconds later allowed Lady Tremaine to crash that slipper and gaslight her into forgetting. Like...why??? I have so many issues with the way Cinderella is depicted in the film, but we'll leave it here (not even going to get into why people only like her in this version more because she displays more masculine strength by "fighting" and being physically combative which...again, there's more than one way to be strong and the fact that they tried to make her just like any other modern Princess is disappointing to me).

The Anastasia problem. This is something that only continues to upset me more and more as time goes by. In the original film, it's established that Anastasia actively abused Cinderella for the better part of her life. She taunted her, lead to Cinderella being punished multiple times, and blocked off Cinderella's escape or pursuit of a healthy life so many times. The way she's enabled the cycle of abuse to continue and actively, not only participated it but, spearheaded it on a few occasions, explains to us why she's the antagonist. I think it's dangerous that she appears in such a sympathetic light, especially without ever once offering a substantial apology to Cinderella. All of Anastasia's actions in this film, too, are completely self-motivated and I just think it lead to this trend where a lot of people see Anastasia as the protagonist (because she has the most screentime in this movie) and I just think it's poor form to sympathize with an abuser and, frankly, a dangerous moral to espouse. Like, even in the finale where they show Cinderella trying to reason with Anastasia is so toxic. Someone who's been on the receiving end of an irrational abuser's whims their entire life should never try to reason because "they know a good person is there, deep down." And I've seen a lot of people call them "sisters" and talk about how Anastasia had it worse than Cinderella because she's considered conventionally unattractive...which. I could write essays about this and how it's projection, but physical beauty doesn't go that far in this universe. Walt even had an animator redrew Anastasia's smile to be more attractive because he wanted all the characters to be somewhat sympathetic in favor of realism, as opposed to 'all good' and 'all bad.' Again, in this universe, the Prince sees an endless line of beautiful women in amazing clothing so that isn't what attracts him to Cinderella. However, I do think it's worth noting that Cinderella ceases to exist in her society when she doesn't appear 'eligible' by having markers of wealth. She's symbolically stripped of her dignity and hidden away, all of her opportunities taken from her. You know who never suffers that lived experience? Anastasia and Drizella. They're slovenly, over-privileged, and completely self-motivated and this sudden rewrite that they're poor victims because, in our world, they wouldn't be seen as beautiful and that qualifies them for a more traumatic upbringing than an orphan they helped abuse is ridiculous to me.

The disregard for the original characterizations. There are so many things here that just don't make sense. In the original, the King was hellbent on getting grandchildren and even displays a delightful meta commentary multiple times (when it's touched on how ridiculous it is that the Prince would marry any girl that fits the slipper, since that's been a critic of the original story, the King shrugs off that his son said it in a lovesick stammer and sees this as an opportunity to get those grandchildren "that's his problem; he's given his word, we'll just hold him to it). All of a sudden, this King is telling his son it's ridiculous to marry a girl who wears a size 4 1/2 and that's no reason to choose a bride??? And is showing Anastasia his late wife and trusting the clumsiest person I've ever seen with a delicate seashell? OKAY. Not only that, but just so many things that made the original characters unique are eroded so they can be like every other Renaissance character. Like, Lady Tremaine was such a great villain because of her presence and charisma and her cunning virtue. To omit all of that and how her waving around a magic wand and yell Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo was unnecessary.

Too much mice. I know many feel that way about the first film, but I think they were skillfully intertwined. It was way too much here and there was no place for them.

The art design and color palette is more gaudy and unappealing to me. I could keep going but lol

[twinkleallnight]

One Night in Cordonia

Chapter 6 : Road to Recovery

Series: One Night in Cordonia, a @choicesprompts Round Robin Event.

Fandom: TRR so far, but others could be added in

Pairings: Various

Word count : ~ 1k with summary.

Rating: Mature

Warnings: talks about sex, innuendos, language

Prompt: Fantasy @choicesjunechallenge or @liaromancewriter.

A/N: This was fun to write playing with my fav characters in an odd setup. Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing it. Thanks for including me 😘. My sincere thanks to @angelasscribbles and @lizzybeth1986 for being the force behind the scenes.

Next author: @kingliam2019

Summary: It's Leo's social season. The day is Beaumont bash after the formal dinner is done and the royal couple has left. Anton sends his second in command Claudius to spread a fog "Death Smash" that would leave the guests paralysed and he would attack. But the gas delivered was Shagging smog 2.0, by mistake, leading to a sexual frenzy amongst guests. Anton himself goes to check and falls prey to the gas. The only unaffected members are Max (immune), Leo (because he was in the gardens and Olivia (partially affected, trying to fight the effects)

"Tell me everything you know," Leo declared.

Amidst Olivia's uncontrolled advancements, Max summarized the events that took place in Leo's absence.

"What do you think we should be doing?"

Leo took a moment to think before he dashed to the staircase. Max followed, dragging a dizzy Olivia along.

Leo spoke as he climbed down, "Search for that American model Riley first and her press secretary. We have to make sure they are not recording this for their channel. Snatch their cameras if that's their plan. Can't let the whole world see the mess we are in, right now."

Olivia giggled at the thought but quickly composed herself, covering her mouth. Leo shook his head looking at Olivia swaying against her wish, trying hard to remain sane.

He took out his phone and flipped it open to contact the palace. "We need backup if this is an attack." He stated.

Max nodded while handling Olivia, who was again leaning on him. "Olivia…"

"Hmmm?" She looked up at him with a seductive gaze. He eyes roamed across the flush on her skin making her look more attractive.

"You are testing me." He groaned. He touched her cheek to help wake her from her slumber but his fingers lingered on, feeling her soft skin. She gave him a foolish grin. He was about to give in when…

"Max." Leo called him. "Maxwell, Not now! And not her. Remember what she will do to you when she comes back to senses."

Max realised he was playing with fire. His caressing hand started patting Olivia hard.

"Olivia! Olivia!"

"Oww, oww, ouch!"As soon as she was alert she noticed she was hugging Max and he was standing awkwardly. She straightened up and made some distance. She rubbed her cheek that had turned red from Maxwell's patting.

"I am sorry." Max apologised.

"Can you be a bit gentle? I know I am under the spell." She said in a stern tone trying to hide her inner fears, now that she knew about his fantasies of her. She was aware that she was adding fuel to the fire everytime cuddling up to him. But she liked the idea somewhere deep inside. She blushed fiercely and tried to look away.

Thankfully, Leo interrupted her train of thoughts. "I have called for a platoon of men from the palace. Let's go and find Riley now."

They searched through the tangled bodies but couldn't find anyone important. Everyone still seemed to be affected. A hearty laugh between the moans and groans caught their attention. They turned around the corner and saw Riley who was attempting a pole dance on some fake pole.

Liam was splayed on a couch in front of her, his gaze fixated over the display Riley had put up. His eyes did not have the glaze that others had but he seemed to be totally invested into the American beauty. Before they could step ahead, Leo's phone rang.

"Shit. Father is calling." He tensed at the timing of the call but still recieved it.

"Leo?" Constantine almost barked through the phone. "Why have you ordered guards with masks? What's going on? What are you upto and where are you?"

"Father, I am at the same place you left me, Ramsford, with Beaumonts." Leo tried to keep his voice calm.

"But why the guards?"

"I.. we… we might have a situation here." He fumbled.

"Spill it already, will you?"

"There is a fog here and we don't know who spread it but everyone is acting weird."

"Exactly in what way are they acting weird?"

"They are.. they are all making out."

"What are they making?"

"I mean, they are…all undressed and ….lustful." Leo was the infamous playboy but when it came to his father, he was finding it difficult to discuss the matter.

"Why are you talking in jumbled words? What do you think? You were born from an egg? Can't you just use the right word?"

"Sex. They are involved in a sexual frenzy." Leo blurted.

"Dammit!" Constantine cursed under his breath. "You have been attacked by Shagging Smog."

"A what?"

"It's kind of a sex pollen, you fool."

" How do you…?" Leo couldn't understand how his father knew the details.

"Where do you get that playboy streak son? Been there, done it all, my child." Constantine smirked over the phone. "Catch hold of your brother and Beaumont boys. They can help you. "

"How?" Leo uttered in a confused state.

"It affects a person only once. The smog cannot alter your mood on a second exposure. Also, it changes genetics. So, you, Liam and the Beaumont boys remain unaffected."

"You mean you and Duke Barthelemy?" Leo tried to comprehend.

"Yes," Constantine rolled his eyes. "we both have had an exposure to that stupid chemical once. So Max and Bertrand are also immune.

" But Bert was.. " Leo's voice trailed away, figuring out what he was about to reveal about Bert and Drake.

"What about Bertrand?"

"Nothing. I will find him. He is somewhere here." Leo tried to dissipate the urgency.

Constantine let out a deep sigh. "Collect the boys. I am coming there."

Round Robin Readers list:

@tessa-liam @queen-arabella-of-cordonia @secretaryunpaid @squid-princess-teach-swallow @kristinamae093 @fearyrain @petiteboheme

My tags: @3pawandme @alj4890 @angelasscribbles @bascmve01 @bebepac @busywoman @dcbbw @choicesficwriterscreations @harleybeaumont @iaminlovewithtrr @karahalloway @kingliam2019 @lizzybeth1986 @lovingchoices14 @nestledonthaveone @neotericthemis @mom2000aggie @phoenixrising0308 @princess-geek @sazanes @secretaryunpaid @sfb123 @sillydg @tessa-liam @tinkie1973 @txemrn @walkerdrakewalker @rubiwalker @703cowbarn @kyra75 @likealotus @kskvb20 @marietrinmimi @juan-francisco-palencia

[anneapocalypse]

4, 8, and 16! 🔥🔥

For the 🔥choose violence 🔥 ask game!

Disclaimer: provocative name aside, I am not actually trying to be mean here, these are just my opinions offered for Entertainment Purposes™️, and I’m not mad at anyone who has a different opinion.

4. what was the last straw that made you finally block that annoying person?

I'm lucky if I remember why I blocked anyone. I just have to assume past!Anne had a reason. 😂

8. common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Okay, so this one's about Merrill, but before I say it I have to qualify that I am not on the Merrill hate train. I love Merrill, I think she's a great character, and I don't think she's wrong for wanting to restore her people's history. I do think that what she's doing is dangerous enough that it's in conflict with the duties of a Keeper to protect her people--but the thing is Merrill knows that, and that's why she agrees to leave the clan. She believes this is too important, more important than becoming a Keeper, which she also says she would have been terrible at. I do think Merrill is not being totally honest with herself about the danger at first; in Act I, she's very quick to insist that it's fine and she's got everything under control. But I think her years in Kirkwall make her more mindful--she sees a lot of demons, a lot of blood magic, she sees how Anders struggles with Justice, and she almost falls to another Pride demon herself if she goes into the Fade with Hawke. (Personally, I also think this might have something to do with her proximity to Audacity on the mountain, and then having more distance from it in Kirkwall, because I do think the Pride demon was influencing both her and Marethari. In the short story "Merrill" it's very clear that it called out to both of them, rather than Merrill seeking it out on her own.)

By Act III, she's undeniably aware of the danger because she asks Hawke to come along for that very reason. What Merrill is doing is undeniably dangerous, but dangerous does not necessarily mean evil or wrong. In the end, though I think there's undoubtedly some level of pride in her motives still, I do think Merrill is fully aware of the risks, and believes that the possible gain is worth it, and takes every precaution she can.

Furthermore, I think that Marethari fails in her duty to her people when she goes to the demon and allows it to possess her. Her responsibility is to protect the clan. When Merrill leaves, Marethari needs to accept her choice and let her go. She needs to move the clan on, out of reach of whatever danger she believes Merrill poses. If they need to contact another clan, raise new halla, she has years to do that. Instead, she keeps them on Sundermount for the better part of a decade because she (and her own pride) simply can't let it go, and in the end she leaves her clan leaderless and possibly dead because she (and, I think, Audacity) convinces herself that only she is capable of protecting Merrill. But Merrill isn't her responsibility anymore. Her clan is. And she abandons them.

So the one thing that kind of sticks in my craw is the idea that Merrill must be an unparalleled genius because she successfully reverse-engineered an eluvian from a shard. Because the thing is she didn't do that! That's the thing she didn't do! She never successfully got the mirror working in canon. Maybe in the next game, for some world states, we'll find out that she did finish it, or maybe we'll never hear about it again; as of the information we have right now, she never made it work.

And I know this one is contentious, because there's a big interpretive gap as far as how close Merrill was to making the eluvian work. And I'm not trying to step on anyone's headcanons here; there's room for speculation and when it comes to headcanon or fanworks there's truly nothing wrong with going the route that she was really, really close, and maybe succeeded down the road.

But as far as canon, we simply do not know. We do not know how close she was. We do not know whether she had built it correctly and simply needed the power to activate it, or whether there was some fundamental flaw in her theory she hadn't figured out, or whether it was wrong from the ground up. We do not know whether Audacity truly knew what she needed or would have given it to her had Marethari not interfered. We don't even know whether it's possible to build an eluvian in a post-Veil world, for that matter! We don't know, and we probably never will.

In fact, it's unclear to me whether Merrill actually knows the full extent of what eluvians are supposed to do. She says in her Act II quest "Mirror Image" that she knows that they were used for communication over distances (which was the extent of ancient Tevinter's understanding of them, and what Duncan remarks in Origins), but she doesn't know exactly how they work. I don't remember her ever saying that it's supposed to be a physical portal you can travel through. There's a moment where Hawke asks what's wrong with it and Merrill exclaims, frustrated, "Well... look at it! Do you think it's just supposed to sit there not doing anything?" I'm not convinced she actually knows what it's supposed to do, only that it's important to her people's history. I'm not blaming her for her lack of knowledge here--I think as fans we've gotten so used to hearing about eluvians that it's easy to forget their existence isn't common knowledge in-universe even among the Dalish. Ariane's clan was safeguarding an exceptionally rare text about eluvians and even she didn't know what they were (in part because most modern elves canonically are not fluent in ancient Elvish, something else I think people kind of forget).

Again, I don't think Merrill is wrong for wanting to discover and restore her people's history. If anything, the gaps in their knowledge only make that more important. I'm also not saying any of this because I'm trying to refute the idea that Merrill is smart. I think she's very clever and resourceful and I think this shows in a great deal of her dialogue with other characters.

I just don't think we can know, based on canon, that her theories were 100% correct and she is now the foremost expert on eluvians. Again, I have zero issue with this as headcanon--I really am not coming for anyone who holds it as such! My only disagreement is when it's put forth as Fact, and like anyone who takes a different view of canon is wrong and is trying to tear down Merrill.

Because like all my faves in this series, it is possible for a character to be good and compelling and interesting and even right about a lot of things without being right about everything all the time.

16. you can’t understand why so many people like this thing (characterization, trope, headcanon, etc)

Okay we'll take this one for whatever values of "so many people," because at this point I don't really see this one come up all that much, but as a huge Sera fan, I do not understand the appeal of the "Sera is Andruil/has a fragment of Andruil" fan theory, and I don't think I ever will.

For one thing, by the end of Trespasser we know that Solas and Mythal are walking around in the waking world still because they are exceptions. The rest of the Evanuris are not hiding among mortals. We know where the others are! They're in the Fade! Solas trapped them there! That was a pretty significant thing that happened!

For another, Solas and Andruil were not friends. If Sera was or was carrying a piece of Andruil, and Solas recognized her, I think he would have reacted strongly. Maybe he wouldn't be capable of killing her on the spot in his current state, but also I sort of doubt he would be walking around gently prodding her to remember who she is.

The theory also seems to be partially based on the misapprehension that Sera's archery skills are somehow magical, which I've already talked about.

But also, and more importantly to me personally, I feel like it just ruins Sera's character. Sera's story is that of a young adult with a lot of unrecovered childhood trauma, and deep issues with identity, rejection, and abandonment, still trying to find a place where she belongs and discover what she believes about the world. What does her unwittingly carrying around a piece of an elven god add to that? What does it add to her painful memories of Lady Emmald, to her sense of alienation from other city elves? It undermines the perspective she brings to the Inquisition as a commoner, a Nobody who is proud of being nobody. It completely ruins her relationship with Solas, turning them from a fascinating set of foils (the ancient elf who broke the world vs. the modern elf who is in so many ways the product of the world he created) into just two ancients arguing with each other. If anything, it feels like papering over everything that makes her complicated and interesting in an attempt to "fix" her: Look, she is Elfy after all! She's the Elfiest!

Sera doesn't need to be secretly an ancient goddess to be a compelling character.

[multistanisms]

Continued Friendships || Shadowhunters

FANDOM: Shadowhunters

PAIRING: Alec Lightwood x Magnus Bane, Jace Herondale x Clary Fairchild

WORD COUNT: 1,920

RATING: PG

POTENTIAL TRIGGERS: N/A

SUMMARY: College has done little to deter the friendships that were made among the hallways, lecture halls and parties. Years later, friends still gather once a month to have fun, reminisce and enjoy a dinner.

TAGLIST: @spookidema, @no1likemybbgcharlie

♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦♢♦

Even after three and a half years together, surviving graduation and moving in together after, it wasn’t often that Magnus and Alec had time to invite friends over. The proposal and wedding had been simple and beautiful, and the two were content to enjoy their life in bliss. Magnus’ paintings were selling well and he’d opened a little trinket shop on the first floor of their loft. Alec was an new artist at the local recording studio after over a year of open mic nights and was working on his first album since being signed. But they still tried to make time for family, knowing how important it was to both of them. Isabelle was high on the list of invites and she usually brought Simon, her roommate turned boyfriend, with her. Then there were the rare lot of Alec’s friends; Jace was finishing his Doctorate in music for orchestra and touring with the Brooklyn Symphony, Clary was the one everyone swore Magnus had a competition with back in the school, and Underhill [Magnus could never remember the man’s actual first name] who had recently taken on a seat in his family’s company. Magnus’ friends were usually early to arrive, a habit Magnus didn’t always share. Catarina, a lovable nurse and her adopted daughter Madzie came early because Madzie got out of school. Ragnor, the history professor who had done his bachelor’s and doctorate all at once, showed up after his last class at the campus three cities over, usually dragging his close friend Raphael - a young man with enough sarcasm to make even Jace think a moment - along for the ride.

Tonight was the first time in over a month that the two men had planned anything. Magnus had finished everything early, deciding to go with pulled pork and slow roasted potatoes with a vegetable medley. Alec had come in as he was gathering plates, and Magnus smiled as the other walked over to kiss him. “You know, I’m glad Izzy took off with her own idea.” he teased, humming softly.

“You say that every other day, Mags.” Alec replied with a quiet laugh. “Cat and Ragnor aren’t here?”

“Madzie has choir practice and Ragnor had to wait for Raphael’s debate team to get back from competition. They’ll be here soon.” Magnus promised. “Jace and Clary coming?”

Alec rolled his eyes. “Yes, because I convinced Clary that this dinner was important.”

“Important?” Magnus hummed. “What do you have up your sleeve, Alexander?” He paused in setting the table to look at Alec.

“Nothing.” Alec mused, going about the kitchen to check on the food and get glasses.

“Alexander Gideon Lightwood, you are a terrible liar and therefore I know something is up your sleeve.” Magnus replied, walking over to stand in front of his husband. “So what is it? Come on.”

“Magnus, I promised I wouldn’t say anything.” Alec replied, smiling and reaching up to brush his fingers over Magnus’ cheek. “You’ll love it, though. I promise.”

Magnus had opened his mouth to reply when there was a knock at the door and Alec swooped around him to answer it. Closing his mouth, he pouted for a moment, immediately letting it drop when he heard Madzie squeal in delight as Alec picked her up. He walked over to the door, grinning at Catarina and opening his arms for a hug. “Catarina, my darling.”

“Hello, Magnus.” Cat answered, hugging back before stepping back so Alec could pass MAdzie to her best friend. “Is that your pulled pork I smell?”

“Made with all the love I can give my family.” Magnus offered. “Come in, everythign is almost ready.” he assured.

“Ready for what?” Clary asked as she walked up, hand in hand with Jace as Simon and Isabelle walked beside them.

“Dinner, of course, Biscuit.” Magnus said, moving to set Madzie down and hug the girl, turning to hug Isabelle before hugging Simon and Jace in turn. “Come on, everyone get inside.” he ushered out of the doorway and waved everyone inside to sit around and chat before dinner was finished. “I have everyone’s favorite wines, teas and sparkling waters.” he assured. Madzie sat between Catarina and Jace, curled into the blonde musician’s side as they laughed and talked, no one saying anything about the very obvious crush the girl had on him. Within five minutes, Ragnor and Raphael had arrived and the group began dinner, Magnus pouring the wines and making sure everyone had the teas. Dinner went without a hitch, the company and friendship a perfect atmosphere before Catarina glanced over and gave a little concerned look.

“Clary, are you okay? You haven’t touched your wine at all tonight.” she asked.

Magnus was mid-sip of his own wine when Cat spoke, setting it down slowly. “Was it the wrong brand, Biscuit? I’m sorry, you seemed to enjoy it last-”

“No, Magnus, I’m fine, I promise.” Clary cut him off, setting her napkin back into her lap and smiling at everyone. “It isn’t the wine, I promise.” There was a brief moment of silence where Clary looked down, one hand resting atop the blue tablecloth. Then green eyes looked up at Jace and he smiled, reaching to take her hand, the two silently communicating in a way Magnus knew he and Alec did on occasion. 

“Oh, I know that look.” Cat replied to the silence with a loving smile on her face, leaning to rest her elbow on the table and her chin atop that hand. “How far along are you?”

“Far along?” Magnus’ eyes widened and he looked at Alec, who was grinning from behind a lifted wine glass. “Clary, are you pregnant?” he asked.

Clary laughed a little and nodded very faintly at first. “Yes.” she said, laughing a little louder and nodding so everyone could see. “Yeah, I am. A few months, and not far enough along to know the gender, but uhm....” She startled as Isabelle squealed and sighed in what was clearly relief.

“Clary, that’s amazing!” The ravenette reached over to grab the redhead’s hand.

Magnus looked over at Alec and pursed his lips playfully. “You knew about this, didn’t you? That’s what you had up your sleeve?”

“We asked Alec not to say anything for a reason.” Clary said looking at Magnus with a smile, her hand squeezing JAce’s for a moment.

“It’s twins, Magnus.” Jace said when Clary faltered. “And we know you and Alec have been talking about adopting the last couple of months, so we thought...what if you adopted one of our kids?”

Magnus couldn’t hear sound for a moment, stunned by the question. He opened his mouth to speak, blindly reaching for Alec’s hand before turning and finding that Alec’s expression was just as shocked. “Alexander…”

“You didn’t tell me about that.” Alec answered as he stared at his best friend.

“For very good reasons. We couldn’t risk you spoiling the surprise or you having more time to think about it.” Clary teased. “Obviously we don’t need an immediate answer, there’s still plenty of time.” she assured, laughing a little. “We just wanted to make it special, even if I wasn’t at a hundred percent.”

“Is Clary having a baby?” Madzie asked, derailing the moment of stunned silence from Alec and Magnus.

“Yes, darling.” Catarina replied. “You’re basically going to have a little cousin.” MAdzie gasped and clapped excitedly.

“Oh, yay! Aunt Clary, can I hold them? And kiss them and play with them?”

“Well, I don’t know about playing with them, but you can hold them once they’re here.” Jace answered, dinner picking up with a celebratory tone, Magnus still trying to wrap his head around the offer he and Alec had been made. Dessert was warm caramel brownies with ice cream, which Clary added on enough cinnamon to choke an elephant, and everyone was sitting around the den for a little while, enjoying the news and the atmosphere of having a family. Jace and Clary let Madzie feel Clary’s stomach and talk to the babies, and eventually the little girl fell asleep with her head in Clary’s lap.

“I think that’s the cue for us to leave.” Catarina said, setting her wine glass down and standing. “Clary, if you need any check ups or anything in between appointments, you have my number.”

“Of course,” Clary said, nodding as Jace helped pick Madzie up. “We’ll come down with you.” she said, going over to hug Magnus. “I know we kind of sprung it on the two of you, but please think about it?” she asked, hands on either of Magnus’ shoulders. “It would mean a lot to us.”

Magnus smiled and nodded, everyone saying their goodbyes and making their way to the door. Once the group of visitors had vanished down the hall and turned into the elevator area, Magnus closed the door, slowly locking the door.

“Still lost in your head there, Mags?” Alec asked, walking up behind Magnus and wrapping his arms around him.

“Clary and Jace want us to adopt one of their children, Alec.” Magnus murmured, the words finally settling in his head. “All the run around we’ve gotten from the orphanages, all the red tape we’ve been trying to get around in the last two months...and they just offer it to us.”

“They know we’ve been planning to turn one of the guest rooms into a nursery. And when they told me about the pregnancy this afternoon at lunch, I guess Clary saw something when I congratulated them.” Alec replied. “I just never thought…” HE pulled away to urge Magnus to face him. “What do you want to do?”

Magnus looked up, swallowing hard after a moment and reaching to pull Alec into a deep kiss. “Of course I want to. I would love to adopt one of the babies. But if you aren’t ready-”

“If I wasn’t ready, Magnus, I would not have filled out all the paperwork we have had to go through just trying to get an interview to meet a child.” Alec cut him off, one hand cupping Magnus’ cheek. “Yes, I’m ready. We have an amazing family and friends. We’ve been trying to add to that with a child of our own and we’ve met a lot of resistance. I think this is good for us.” He gave a quiet laugh as Magnus seemed to relax in his arms. “That had you tense all night, didn’t it?”

“I mean, I know we’ve talked about it, and I know…” Magnus took a slow, deep breath. “I know we’ve been trying to adopt and then suddenly we have the opportunity we’ve been working for and for a moment I was terrified and happy all at once and then I thought…”

“You thought I was scared, too?” Alec finished, two sets of eyes meeting as he spoke, and he reached to pull Magnus into a hug. “Of course I was scared, but that’s part of being a parent, right?” he asked, pulling away to look at Magnus. “I love you, Magnus. More than anything. And we’ll be great parents, I promise. I’m not going anywhere.”

Magnus smiled and nodded, tugging Alec down into a deep kiss, pressing close. “Alright. Let’s get some sleep and tomorrow we’ll go shopping for cribs and decor.” he breathed.

“That sounds like a marvelous idea. As soon as we put up the dishes from dinner.” Alec amended, taking Magnus’ hand and leading him to the kitchen, smiling as MAgnus laughed and nodded.

“Alright, that’s fair.”

[beetlegoose01]

Hold on to the memories (Specs x Tucker)

happy new years my loves!! be safe alright? 💕✨️🎉🍾we survived 2023!! be nice this is my first time writing this pair AND for this fandom lmao Read on AO3!

December 31st-  11:45 pm.

Parties suck.

Specs ditches it ages ago, opting to slink behind the porch swing and cradle his remaining daiquiri as if his life depends on it. Which it does. There is no way he could handle the rest of the year—fifteen minutes of it left, sober.  Not that hiding matters anyway. Outside there's an even bigger group of people, shouting, screaming along to the song playing on the speakers. Fireworks crackle above his head, a rainbow mishmash of colors that blend into the misty sky, along with some cigarette smoke. 

He can't remember why he even showed up. He didn't know any of these people fooling around like idiots. Was he even invited? Or did he just go along with Tucker?

He jolts from his daze to realize something. 'Oh fuck I lost Tucker. How did I lose Tucker? He's not exactly an easy person to lose!'

Thankfully Tucker wasn't his designated driver, but he still liked having him around for moral support. 

He couldn't remember the last time he saw him. It was...maybe it was when he was wandering around the house. The music was pounding in his ears, and Tucker had mentioned something about helping his cousin with..something. What was that something?

"Don't go anywhere, Specs, I just need to help Taylor clean up the—you know. Ugh."

Puke. Right. Someone had puked inside the cat's litter box. And that was when Specs decided to step outside to get some air.

He takes another sip of his drink, swallowing away the tartness of it all, the blended ratio of lime to rum being too uneven for even him to find it delicious in any capacity. Not to mention it seemed to make his vision worse. It wasn't unusual for his glasses to slip off, seeing as they needed to be adjusted every other second, but upon touching his face, he feels the frame right on the bridge of his nose. He simply hadn't noticed, with the noise and the overwhelming atmosphere of it all. He wouldn't mind going home before midnight. Maybe he could catch Elise and they could go spirit hunting.

Except she was off playing bingo with her friends, so even if he did get back, she wouldn't be there.

His glass was empty now. Specs places it aside and exhales, resting his back against the edge of the porch stairs. It was only when he let himself wander for a bit towards the lawn that he notices a tall, bearded man moving towards him.

"There you are!" Tucker says and with no hesitation plops right next to him.

"Surprise, you found me." He replies flatly.

"You're not that hard to find. Five-foot nothing guy with glasses." He ignores Spec's noise of faux outrage. "And, I happened to notice you ran off without telling me."

"Aw, you do care."

Tucker shoots him a look, before taking a swig of whiskey.

Specs leans over, bumping his shoulder against him lightly without thinking. "I needed the fresh air." He admits after a moment of silence.

"Air's not that fresh out here."

"It's better outside than in. Can't stand the noise."

"Well it is a New Years party, kinda expect it to be a little noisy."

"New Years Eve party," He corrects. "No one actually celebrates New Year's Day 'cause they're too busy recovering from their hangovers. Y'know, it almost makes zero sense why it exists. There's nothing special about it. And...and new years resolutions? Like who the hell does those? It's so dumb. And fuck, it's so loud."

"Specs, how drunk are you?" Tucker smirks, allowing the other to lean closer almost into his lap.

"Yes." He grumbles.

"If you hate the noise so much, why did you show up?"

"You know why."

Mischief twinkles in his warm brown eyes. "Guess I do." His voice is gruff, but comforting. “Because I'm your best friend, and the only person who would invite you to a party. There's a first time for everyone, Specs.”

“Fuck off. That's only partly true.”

“Mm.”

"What time is it?" He gestures at Tucker's watch.

He glances down. "Nearly midnight, about a minute."

"Ha, you've got a few seconds then to figure out your resolution."

"I thought you said resolutions were dumb?"

"They are, that's why I expect you to do one. Duh."

He rolls his eyes. "Alright, my resolution is---"

Someone shouts over the buzz of voices. "Ten seconds till midnight! Everyone couple up, and get ready!"

It takes them a second to realize what's going on. Men with women, men with men, women with women, all huddling in the cold, waiting in anticipation as they start to count down.

10...9...8...

"Is this the part where we kiss?" Specs whispers, not realizing he says it aloud. "Oh fuck."

7...6...5...4...

Tucker seems taken aback, his eyes wide in astonishment at the suggestion. "I---think so? Do we?"

He shrugs. "Not if you don't want to! My mouth started doing the talking...before I finished thinking."

Tucker chuckles. "

Let's do it, man. It's tradition."

3...2...1

Neither man knows who moves first. Specs feels Tucker tenderly cup his cheek to tilt it slightly, his rough, chapped lips finally pressing against his in a soft gesture of affection.  Specs didn't expect to feel anything but a quick burst of adrenaline. Instead he felt light, tingling all of a sudden---and it wasn't because Tucker's beard was tickling him.

When they pull away, Specs is left wanting more. He catches a glimpse of Tucker's eyelashes fluttering open, and he nearly passes out at the sight. He never realized how beautiful he is, never grasped just how his eyes seemed to shine under the moonlight.

"Woah."

"Woah." He echoes. "That was..."

"Yeah...that was...really---" His cheeks redden, at a loss for words.

"Nice."

"Yeah, nice, that's the word I was looking for."

"Happy New Year?"

"Happy New Year." He nudges him. "You never told me your resolution."

Tucker winks, placing his hand in Spec's hip. "Don't need to. I already did my resolution for this year."

[thelastbraincellofthehive]

And we're back for V4! Honestly, I'm making it through more than I thought I would. I was sure I was gonna bail after 2 lol.

Anyways, the new engine was really a breath of fresh air for this volume, and it's impressive how much animation is still getting better every volume<3 RWBY makes me proud in a way no other show or just thing has ever done. I just wish it wouldn't hurt so bad lol.

Anyways, time for random thoughts!

I gotta go ahead and say that V4-6 is my favorite outfit for Blake. The pirate vibes on her are *chef kiss* and I'm just in love with her white coat RIP the coat, another good thing Adam ruined *sighs*

God, the yearning separated bees are so angsty <3 I love it, the payoff will be so great.

God, Sun was so annoying this volume, poor boy has a good heart but definitely is too eager for Blake to match him and things get aaaaaawkward lol I'm happy the managed to get into an understanding by next volume tho, Blake needed him, I can see that now.

It's so interesting to hear all the bits of story we get to learn each volume and how eventually it all falls apart with Jinn's story in v6. I don't blame Qrow for how hard he took it, poor man has been through a lot, and he really believed in Ozpin through it all.

I loooove the tale of the two brother's animation style<3 it's one of my favorite parts of the season.

The ship captain is another favorite part lol I don't know, I just think he's neat. Wouldn't be opposed yo seeing more of him.

Ilia <3 Love of my life, best lesbian Chameleon girl <3 good how I miss you!

Again, when is Ilia coming back so she can finally meet and fall in love with Weiss?? RT is homofobic to keep these two apart! /Jk

But seriously they are fuckin' perfect for eachother I won't get tired of saying it. Schnee x Faunus? Both sides of the Atlas/Mantle coin? Rainbow x white? Trying to live their families legacy without letting it consume them? What's not to like?

Ahem, anyways. The Kuroyuri arc had me biting my freaking nails. Seriously after v3 I was so sure someone was going to die!

Remember that couple days we were all terrified of the nuckelavee and then someone compared it to the wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tubeman and since then we just laugh about him? Lol this Is why I love this fandom.

Maya Zwei <3

I can't imagine how horrible it was for the girls all that time we didn't get to see in between volumes. Weiss being completely alone in Atlas, with no way to know if Yang and Ruby had gotten better, just knowing that Blake had ran into the night. Blake wondering everyday if Yang was thinking about her, so sure that she was hated, heating herself too much to ask for help or just company... Ruby missing the friends she had come to trust so wholeheartedly and seeing her big sister broken and depressed and not knowing what to do because Yang had never been nothing but bright and strong and perfect. Yang looking at books and thinking of Blake and wanting to hate her because it would be so much easier. And that's not even counting all of them mourning Pyrrha and Penny and everything they lost in the blink of an eye.

On that note, Ruby's outfit for this arc paying homage to both Penny and Pyrrha still hurts me so much</3 this is also probably my favorite outfit of her, thought her Atlas outfit is quite good too.

The moment we learn that Blake is practically a Princess lol I love it, I love seeing reactors get to that part.

But honestly my favorite part to see reactors will always be Taiyang's 'lost a couple braincells along with that arm' joke lol honestly I hate that joke, but the sheet shock on everyone's faces is just epic lol.

Honestly I feel I've slept on Yang's v4 outfit btw. Yeah, her final/v5-6 outfit is extremely badass and I love it, but the sweats + orange tanktop looks so good on her??? Honestly this was the first volume I looked at Yang and was atracted to her lol.

So yeah Yang please join the line of women who could step on me and I'd thank them.

Also: *puts Ilia there too*

Specially once she paints her arm yellow <3 I stan by my previous statement that Yang looks so much better with her new arm. It feels like her design is finally complete.

V4 villains really, really make me miss v1-3 villains lol. I'm sorry, but I just think Hazel and Watts are unninteresting (aside from the Emm-Hazel plot but I only like it because Emmerald) and while I find Tyrian kinda funny because he's an obvious theater kid lol it was not enough to put team WTCH in my good graces after getting rid of my two faves from team CRMNE lol. Also, Cinder being too hurt to cause chaos was a negative</3 I loved sassy overconfident world destroyer Cinder.

It is also extremely painful for me to watch Cinder slowly dig her own grave after seeing her backstory. I always had a soft spot for Cinder and that really made it worse.

Baby Nora and Ren<3 good they were cute! And god did the timeskip did them good lol this is also my favorite Nora outfit <3 she looks amazing.

That moment in Kuroyuri when baby Ren gives Nora the hammer while boop play in the background? I tear up every fucking time. It's literally imposible not to love them together, just as It was literally imposible for Nora to not fall for him <3 my babies

Qrow being bandaged over his clothes while injures will never not be funny to me lol oh, the joys of working with 3D models!

Weiss learning to summon <3 also just... Weiss <3 She's the best. This volume wasn't kind on her, but she rose to the challenge and got so far!!

Also, can I just say that I feel Whitley... Is what people thinks Draco Malfoy Is? Like... I always remembered Draco while watching Whitley, but Whitley is an actually cool character as you get to know him, while Draco just... disapointed me. He's also my baby and I demand him to be protected.

Seeing Raven oficially was one of my favorite parts of the volume <3 She's a bitch, she's the worst, I love her so much!!!!

Again with the controversial and refuted headcanon... Qrow getting a song that includes the line 'you don't want the burden of my name', talking to Ruby about how his semblance makes things hard on family... That delirious 'Tai, she's not coming back' while poisoned... Seriously it would've made so much sence if Ruby was his daughter lol. At this point it's just hilarious.

The Jaune - Ruby moment in Kuroyuri </3 seriously give these poor kids therapy, they need it.

This Is the only volume where I actually have a score saved on my Spotify playlist: the first part of The next step where you can hear the music box version of Divide. I would pay for a full of that song <3 I adore creepy music box covers.

The way Blake's voice breaks when she finally says Yang's name? I'm ok, I swear! I'm not.

If you didn't cry during Ruby's letter scene... You're lying!! It's not possible to not cry! Specially with Home in the background. Home is another special song to me, it was one of the first ones I memorised back when my english wasn't great <3

That part when Ruby talks about people who are still lost and people who wants to take advantage of them and it shows Ilia with the Albains? I loved it, that's why I never doubted of my girl<3

And so it became the long journey to have Winter back... I remember how annoyed I was during all of v4-5 that we never got to see her outside of the Weiss trailer lol you don't just introduce a character like Winter for two episodes and then take it away like that RT! I say, as if I didn't knew v5 at all lol

I'm still curious about Tyrian and the fact that he apparently couldn't fight while Qrow didn't have his Sword/Scythe? Did we ever got a reason for that yet?

I think that's all that comes to mind right now lol also, I watched the v5 trailers and I just had to say how much I love them <3 Blake's probably my favorite, but they were all great!

O better keep watching now lol I gotta watch as much as I can before saturday!

[gayhotpriests]

after rewatching the episode (my stream kept breaking and i missed the last chimney scene), i don't really see it as chimney straight up forgiving his dad. i know, it looks like that, and they're making an effort to convince us that that's the way it's gonna go. but i feel it's very... open-ended?

first of all- yes, it would have been infinitely better if mr. han was the one to say all that. but they're not there yet, and that's sort of how moms are?? it looks very in character for them to have myung speak in his behalf, since all communication since chim was very young had been through her, if you remember, back in chimney begins, she was the one reaching out and sending updates on albert.

second of all... if his father truly is as ashamed and prideful as she says, there is no way he would have been the one to reach out first. this man (and i'm not being like, an apologyst of his actions) has spent decades not talking to his son because of- allegedly- feeling like a failure of a father. and if any of you know just a bit of korean culture (like, come on, have you ever watched a k-drama?), men are as emotionally constipated as they are everywhere else. and anyway, to him it probably feels like he already took the first step- he went all the way to america, so now it was up to chimney.

chimney was allowed to take that or leave that. albert was a bit ooc in this (though we don't know what's been happening in the year he spent in korea, maybe he got his own reconciliation?) and pushing a bit too far- but he's also a younger brother, with very idealistic views on his family (remember when he first showed up on chim's doorstep? yeah), and waaay less trauma than chimney. or at least of a different kind. he just wants everyone to get along! and still, his meddling wasn't the thing to get chimney to consider taking the chance. it was myung.

now. we know chimney han is many things, but he is not prideful. he will be the first one to admit he's made a mistake, unless he's in way too deep in his head (as seen in s1 with tatiana, before all of his character development), so to be called out like that? he probably just thought... well, myung was kinda right, he was being a bit prideful and closed off- not that he didn't have the right to.

inviting his dad to stay a few more days doesn't mean he's forgiven him for everything. it's a bit like buck asking his parents to join him on therapy in s4, he's opening the door to his dad to prove himself. yes, he's also opening himself to more dissapointment, and it's a very risky move, because he has absolutely no reason to trust him. but you saw that man's face when his long lost son gave him a chance?? that didn't look like a father not repentant of his past actions. he looks just as hesitant as chim is, looking back and forth from myung to chim, surprised that chimney is even willing to let him in. he absolutely knows that what he did to chim was wrong. he probably thinks that he doesn't deserve to be forgiven, just like we all do.

i think, the fandom is right in that not every bad parent has to be forgiven. but family dynamics are more complex than a tv show, a procedural drama, can even begin to express. and i know how importat it would be that they showed this on screen. but this is a show about healing, come on! they're not going to give up on this. chimney said today that there is nothing he wouldn't do to see jeeyun happy- and that probably includes fixing his relationship with his dad.

i don't think chimney's fully forgiven him, but maybe, getting them to a place where they might be able to talk things out is the first step to healing for him. maybe it will work out, maybe it won't, we already went through this with the diaz parents, and look at us now! we don't know what the writers have in store regarding this storyline, and i'm not about to get my hopes up about it because this is an ensemble show, they don't have time to show every detail about every healing journey. but who know! maybe we'll be surprised.

just like the lyrics right after that scene said, it's time to "let the healing start".

[chloeillustrates16]

How Levin is Related To Garroth

So, I've been on Aphmau Tumblr for a while; I loved Aphmau growing up in the early days of Youtube and how she shaped me as a person. You may not have to like her or support her but there is no denying that she's shaped all of us as people. In any case, I want to talk about something that's been bugging me for YEARS. And that's the Levin-Garroth debate.

For people who weren't around when Aphmau was uploading MCD, you might not understand. So, disclaimer if you haven't watched the original MCD series because there will be spoilers.

I and maybe others have been confused on why exactly Levin looks so much like Garroth. And that's not only to the fandom, in the actual canon of the series, everyone brings up the fact that Garroth and Levin's similiarities are uncanny. Levin even says in the second episode of season 2, "Everyone here says I look like Garroth, heh...I just hope that they don't expect me to live up to his reputation..."

So, within the series canon, everyone thinks that Levin looks like Garroth. So, what does that mean? Well, in season 2 episode 100, after Aphmau finds out that she's actually Irene. She says this, "Bloodline? Wait, does that mean that Levin is my great-great-grandson?" Which Hyria says,

"No, Irene was once a human many centuries ago, she had family, and she did a great job keeping them around her. Irene never had any kids of her own, but she did want children."

Irene never had children, which means we can rule out the theory that Irene and Esmund ended up together. But that first part, Irene had a family, which means, she had siblings and a mother and father. So, what does that say? Well, if we can dissect Irene's family tree, then that means that we can figure out how Garroth and Levin are related.

Most of this is my own canon, I won't give any names to characters that haven't been introduced. Most of the information that I'm saying are inspired of Jess's personal life, which she does in her own stories.

Irene's mother -- Irene's father (We can say that they were magic welders since that's the only explanation for Irene's gift. And as we know within the series, if you prefect your magic enough you can slow your own aging I.E. Hyria and Lucinda).

Then there's her brother, which isn't canon but for sake of story, let's say Irene has a brother. He has to also be a magic welder, because his parents are both; so, let's say he married a woman and ends up having a daughter.

Irene's niece, she ends up marrying into the Ro 'Meaves', centuries before O'Kahsis is born. In which she has a son,

Irene's great-nephew, he ends up marrying a woman. Who gives birth to...you guessed it. Garte. Who marries Zannah.

Which explains why Hyria and Zannah are so close; if Irene was still around when Irene's niece was born then she was around when Garte was born. Since Hyria and Irene were so close, I'm sure that her family knew about Hyria; considering her family as well.

Making them close by the time that Garroth, Zane, and Vlad were born.

Of course, this is all a fan theory and speculating. The reason why I had it to where Irene had a brother is because in IRL Jess has a half-brother.

So, what about Levin exactly? Well, remembered how I said that Irene's brother was married and had Irene's great-nephew? Well, he also had a daughter. Who ended up have a son; guess who that son was? The old lord of Pheonix Drop.

Phoenixes are supposed to represent rebirth, magic, renewal, and safety. Well, what does Aphmau do the moment she steps into that world? She's rebirthed, as a new person with magic and an instinct to protect people.

On top of all of that, it's canon that Gate and the Old Lord are magic welders; how else would Gate know magic? It's because Garte was born with it and taught Zannah how to use it along with Zane and Garroth.

Then what about Garroth? Doesn't that mean he's technically related to Irene? Well, yes. I know that probably sounds gross because Aphmau is technically supposed to be Irene herself. However, that's not how that works; when someone is reincarnated, that doesn't mean they're related to them. So, we're in the clear without any incest. (Thank God).

So, does that mean that Garroth and Levin are distant cousins? Yes, it's the only reason to explain why the two look so alike. Genes also play a big part in it as well.

Let's say, Irene's brother has the same auburn brown that she does. Then that means, he'd have to marry someone that carries the blue eye trait. To counter act the brown, Irene's family needs to be carrying the blue-eyed trait.

Then, both siblings have to be able to have the carrying trail. And since Irene's brother had both had daughter and a son, the daughter would carry the blue-eyed trait. Since the son ends up having another son, who ends up marrying someone who has blue eyes or carries it. Which passes it onto Levin.

On top of that, we already know that Garte has blue eyes which carried to both Zane and Garroth.

I know this was a lot to unpack in a single post, but this is the only way to explain why the two looked so similar. And not choke it up to ship bait. Which was probably the intention in the beginning. However, I'm sure that if Jess got to finish MCD Rebirth she would end up explaining it.

[tadpolesonalgae]

[ask is at the end, sorry not so sorry for such a huge block of text TT]

Hey Tabby! first off let me let you know that I fucking love and adore you and your stories sooo effing mucchjhh, likee aaah I'm frothing at the mouth just thinking about them. i love the way you write and breath life into your stories and characters(ironically, I haven't read cbmthy yet, which seems to be your most loved and talked about work but I can't wait to read it sooon)

well anyway, I wanted to ask you about the first time you read the first book (ACOTAR) and what you'd thought of it and what your first thoughts of Rhys were? did you know that feyre would end up with him before you started the book? or did you go into it blind? and if you didn't know they'd end up together, were you rooting for them by the end of it? did you feel like you were the only one that saw something bwn them? and you weren't sure if sjm was actually hinting at something or if you were simply being delusional? because this was exactly what went through my head when I first read the book and I'd love to know your thought process through the books tooo. honestly, even when she escaped to the night court in the second book, before she explicitly stated that she did not love tam anymore or something along those lines, I was still unsure/scared that Feysand wasn't going to happen 😭 and that this would just be written as a tiny hiccup in Feylins story and Rhys would just be like, some kindof rebound guy(haha lol yea) that would make her realise her love for Tam or whatever bs I see soooo often in movies these days(especially those hallmark ones, no shade to anyone who enjoys them tho,ily) and now I just want to laugh at my past self lol. I'd love to know your thoughts, thankyouu💗💗💗

—🫀(ps, that's my heart that swells up a little extra each time you post 🥹🤌🏻✨)

Hello hello!!🧡💛 Thank you so much 🫂🫂🫂☹️

‘(ironically, I haven't read cbmthy yet, which seems to be your most loved and talked about work but I can't wait to read it sooon)’

Gosh, I hope you aren’t disappointed by it—just as a heads up it might be a little slow in parts but I hope you enjoy it :) Hopefully it’ll be easier since if you do decide to read it, you’ll be able to skip onto the next chapter quickly and it won’t drag too much 🫤🧡💛

Oooh okay, so I originally didn’t have an interest in reading—acotar was the second book series I ever reader, after shadow and bone, which was the first book I’d read that wasn’t compulsory reading in some way—but one day my friend and I were in the library joking around, and she mentioned chapter 55 (because again, I didn’t know anything about books, or the jokes within the fandom) and she was telling me how it was a whole thing, and if you say chapter 55, everyone knows what scene it is, and I ended up just taking the book (acomaf) off the shelf and reading chapter 55 on its own 🫢

It wasn’t until about a year later that I actually read acotar, but I’m pretty sure I remembered feysand’s mating bond? But again, I had no idea what that meant so I don’t think it impacted my read that much?

I will say, I have a breathing problem that kicks up every once in a while, and I remember liking Rhys so much in the first book and being so flustered my heart was beating so quickly I was struggling to breathe for a good few minutes and had to step outside 😭😭 we still sometimes joke that he nearly killed me 😳🤦

(I loved him being cold, and cruel, and kind of flirtatious 🫢😳)

As for whether I knew Feyre and Rhys would get together, or whether I was routing for them, I actually can’t pin point when I got so immersed in acotar? I definitely liked Rhys’ character from the beginning, and I think Feyre grew on me more throughout the story :)

I never hated Tamlin though—I think that might have been aided by kind of knowing Rhys and Feyre would get together, and acotar didn’t seem like a series that would have a sad ending? It felt too fantasy to do anything super serious if that makes sense, so I was content to just go along with the ride and see where the story went :)

Also, again it might have been because I kind of knew Rhys and Feyre would end up together, but if Rhys really was the big bad villain he was made out to be in the first book, I think it would have been poor writing to show him to us so early on in the book? I think villain’s are much scarier when they’re kept in mystery, like how dragons or monsters will sometimes be silhouetted in thundercloud to show their outline, or how sometimes in games you’ll see a massive tail slither away under water without showing you the full creature because the Thing your imagination creates will always be so much worse :)

‘I was still unsure/scared that Feysand wasn't going to happen 😭 and that this would just be written as a tiny hiccup in Feylins story and Rhys would just be like, some kindof rebound guy(haha lol yea) that would make her realise her love for Tam’

I mean to be fair, I don’t really watch films or tv shows at all anymore, and until acotar I hadn’t read many books so I think I might have been oblivious to those tropes/cliches which is why I wasn’t worried that Feyre would go back to him? It probably could have been done, that they reconciled and Tamlin had a redemption, but I think that would have changed the whole tone of the book series so I am really glad that didn’t happen and we got to meet the IC :)

Thank you so much for writing in!! I think it can be so fun to read a book, or something to that degree, then rereading it and spotting all these new details that hint at what will happen in the future? Also seeing what people thought on their first read through, then perhaps how they changed gradually is always so interesting to hear? Also getting to watch as someone reads through a book for the first time and hearing what they think as they go through it—especially if it’s a book you like—can be such a bonding experience 🧡💛

[tisiphonewolfe]

Heads up 7 up tag

Two of these, one from @doublegoblin here, and another from @late-to-the-fandom here. Thanks, both! Even if I don't always do these, I do love receiving them for the intriguing out-of-context snippets I get to read of other folks' work . . .

Anyway! No pressure tags for @lostpasswordreturning, @fragrant-stars, @sarahlizziewrites and . . . @bandierarosadiaz (George go write something!!!)

Two snippets then! As usual, I never know what counts as seven, so indeterminate lines from -

Bound By Stone And Blood

Oda’s features were soft, and right now they were squeezed into worry lines and pursed lips. Maribelle stepped forward instead of away. “Oda, maybe neither of us should be bothering to seek the faculty’s forgiveness anymore. You wouldn’t believe some of the things the Archdean has told me - she has plans, ideas - we could help her together. It would be like some of our field projects, back in the day. Remember?” Oda’s temptation was brief, but obvious from the way her steel-still hands twitched. “That’s an easy thing to say for someone who’s never killed anyone. I’ll be paying my debt in blood until I’m dead.” “You don’t have to. We can just-” “Mari.”

Odyssey One

While Brewer guided the shuttle towards the bay at the falcon’s tail, Trix stood - awkwardly, as the shuttles had apparently not been created with their Captain’s height in mind. “Alright. Everyone knows what they’re doing?” Nervous nods bounced between her senior staff. She had been surprised to find that all of them were willing to go along with this harebrained scheme. Stealing humanity’s first interstellar ship was going to be quite the black mark on their service record if things went awry, but it turned out they were all as frustrated as she was. She had barely hinted at what she was going to try and do before each of them leapt at the chance to come along. The crewmen, fresh-faced and with more to lose, had been less keen, hence the Odyssey’s complement of one hundred was down to just sixty-three.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Guardian Devil pt. 1; Matt Murdock x teen reader

*Author’s note*

Wow back in the ring this long in the game wow! Okay first off Happy New Year everyone hope 2022 brings us some closure on stuff and hopefully one step closer to finally ending this mess that Covid has done for us. The sooner we get our shit together the better.

Okay but enough with politics and world events, we come to tumblr to get away from real world shit! So I figured why not start off the new year with a new fandom (I know I’m slacking since Daredevil ended like years ago) but I’m starting to watch it now so I figured why not start writing for it now, esp. since I see a lack in platonic fics for our beloved lawyer/vigilante. In the end this was born, hope you guys enjoy this. And look out for part 2 in just a few minutes.

Warnings: Graphic murder, violence, swearing, angst, fluff.

---------------------> PART TWO HERE

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things​

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels​

@ixchel-9275​

@psychosupernatural​

@waddles03​

@queen-paladin​

@mobiusismyfav​

@queensdivas​​

________________________________________________________

Two years.  That’s how long it’s been since she was brutally taken from this world.  Standing here at her grave never gets any easier, especially when I still blame myself for her death.  If I hadn’t asked my mom to pick me up from Liz’s party after experiencing an anxiety attack, she’d never would’ve gotten her car, if she hadn’t gotten in her car then her car would’ve never broken down at the bridge.

And if her car hadn’t been on that bridge that night, he would’ve never found her (pretending to be a good Samaritan) before knocking her out and stuffing her into the trunk of his car.

Missing for almost 5 months until her body would be found cemented in a trash bin in an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn, her entire body cut up like a hotdog.  But you wanna know the worst part of it all? They never found the guy who did it.  

Not once.  The police did everything they could until a year and a half after finding her body before they decided my mother’s case was just another ‘Cold case left in the archives’. To be collecting dust for the next few decades or so until some would-be detective comes along and wants to solve it.

By then I’ll either be too old or even dead to ever find out just who did it, hell maybe the guy will have been long dead after living a whole life after snuffing my mother’s brief one.

“I miss you soo much mama. I really wish you could be here.” I said after placing a bouquet of white lilies on her grave as well as a picture of the two of us at the premiere of the Hobbit: The Unexpected Journey. She was such a huge Tolkien nerd and would read me the books every night and once I was 7 years old she got me to watch the Lord of the Rings films.

The two of us would quote lines to each other as our secret code to one another or speak in riddles just like the Riddles in the Dark from the Hobbit.  We would even do it around Foggy and Matt just to annoy them (mostly Foggy, especially when we would speak Elvish to each other. Matt always found it funny).  She even once told me that when the time comes and she dies, she would like the Lament of Théodred to be sung by me since I knew the words so well.

I joked with her telling her that she would never die because she was a superhero to me and that she was stronger than the Hulk to be killed off so easily.  She smiled at me that night and just held me close and told me that everyone cannot escape death for Death is a way of Life.  

But she told me to never be afraid of it, nor angry at it. I never knew that death would come for her in such a brutal way.

And like she wanted, that day of her funeral I sung the very song she wanted me to sing to her.  I can still remember it like it was yesterday.

*Flashback 2 years ago.*

Everyone of my mom’s closest friends including Matt, Foggy and Karen, my friends Peter Parker, his aunt May, Ned and MJ came in support for me.  The men came with her casket towards the spot where she would finally be put to rest.

After the sermon spoke some words of comfort from the Bible that’s when I walked up onto the stage, staring at the picture of my mother in her Lawyer attire.  A look of pride in her eyes as I began the song.

Bealocwealm hafað fréone frecan forth onsended giedd sculon singan gléomenn sorgiende on Meduselde thæt he ma no wære his dryhtne dyrest and maga deorost.

         My heart broke and my voice quivered as I tried to sing the song without breaking down.  As I sung, I watched as Karen was the first to place her rose on top of my mother’s grave next to mine that I had placed before going on stage.  Followed by Foggy and Matt who stood side by side.

I knew this was just as hard for me as it was for them. They were my mom’s college friends. The 3 Musketeers, El Grande avocados. Nelson, Perry and Murdock attorneys at Law.  That’s what they were for years up until now.

I could see Foggy’s chin wobble as he tried his best to stay strong while I could see a tear slip down from Matt’s red shades. Hell that was probably the first time since I’ve known him to ever cry.  They stood together and watched as my mother’s casket was finally lowered to the ground and some volunteers began to bury her for her final rest.

After getting some hugs from my friends and Aunt May I was the only one left alone with Foggy and Matt.

“She told me that……we should never fear death, nor be angry with it. And yet……I feel so much rage in me. Why did I make her drive to pick me up from that stupid party? Why couldn’t I have just sucked it up and dealt with it?”

“She’s your mother (Y/n). And mother’s always come when their babies are in trouble or in distress.” Uncle Foggy told me.  I turned to him, my face probably looked so broken to him.

“It was my fault.” I choke out before finally breaking down and weeping into my hands.  Foggy walked up to me and embraced me tightly, my arms going around him squeezing him back and his head resting on top of mine.

“Be at peace in God’s garden (M/n). And know your daughter will be kept safe with Foggy and myself. This we promise our sister, our partner in crime, the second avocado.” He sadly chuckled which made Foggy and I also smile sadly at the nickname.

*Present*

I stroked my mother’s name as well as the plate that would forever mark her grave.

(M/n) Perry.

Mother, Sister, Attorney at Law

May she now govern the laws of our Heavenly Father

“Figured you’d be here.” I heard Matt’s voice say behind me. I sniffled and wiped my tears as well as my nose with the sleeve of my hoodie.  “This might be better than using your sleeve.” I turned to my left and saw him kneeling down beside me holding a packet of tissues.

“Thank you.” I muttered as I took them and opened it up to take one out.  “I’m about to go to my first Homecoming dance next year. She—she should be here to see that.”

“If I know her, she would’ve been up the walls with planning a date just to get your dress, hair and makeup done. And on that night she would be up to the wall taking pictures of all of us before you left.” I smiled.

“That sounds like her.”

“She really did love you (Y/n). And she still does. She’s…..”

“Uncle Matt. I know religion is important to you but—please don’t say anything about God right now. If he really cared about all of us, why couldn’t he spare her!?” I snapped my question angrily. “Why? Why did he take her from me?! She-she was all I had left.”

“No. She wasn’t.” he fiddled around the grass until he found my hand hanging limp at my side.  “You still have your friends at school, you have Karen, Foggy, and me. You’ve got me. And I’m not saying this out of sympathy.” He gave my hand a gentle squeeze.  “I—my father was killed by his own boss. He didn’t throw in the match and—boss had him killed.”

“How do you get through something like that Matt? The police never found the sick mother fu—”

“Language little miss.” He warned me with a flick at my temple. I softly glared up at him but it quickly softened.

“I just…..how can someone live with themselves after committing such an act? How do you go on living a normal life for years knowing you’ve killed someone in such a graphic way?”

“I know, I know. I—I cannot even imagine the terror your mother must’ve gone through.” He wrapped his arms around me leaning his head on top of mine.  “But it wasn’t your fault.”

“But…..”

“I know you still blame yourself. I can hear it off your tone every time we talk about her. Or whenever Mother’s day comes around. But you should know that the only person at fault is the sick psychopath who killed her.”

“Sometimes I wish I could go out there and find him. I’ve dreamed of finding him and-and giving him every ounce of fear and torment he gave my mother.” I seethed out clenching my fists until my knuckles grew white.

“You know she wouldn’t want that of you. She raised you to have such a kind heart and a strong mind. You’re better than those that seek vengeance.” I felt his hand cup the bottom of my chin and lifted my chin up so I could look at him.  “Promise me, you won’t go looking for vengeance.”

“I promise.” I softly spoke.

“That’s my girl.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead. “Care to help a blind man up?” I chuckled softly as I stood up while grabbing his arm and lifting him up. “How about we head back over to my place? I know I don’t have much but I finally managed to get a TV installed in your room, got some movies you could maybe watch while I make the popcorn?”

“As much as I would like that Uncle Matt, I—sorta promised Ned and Peter I’d meet them at Pete’s place to help build the new Lego Death Star.”

“Okay kiddo. Go be with your friends. Maybe getting out of this place will help you today.”

“Yeah. Two generations of Perry’s born and raised here after all and even through all the bad rep I still can’t help but think of mom everytime I’m here.” Gingerly his thumb stroked my cheek, even drying off a tearstain before he gave me another kiss to my forehead before the two of us left the cemetery together before parting ways.

I got on the metro and took the half hour journey to Queens however I wasn’t going there to see Peter and Ned.  I had some other plans over in Queens to deal with.

Unbeknownst to everyone after my mom died, I had found an underground MMA ring that was located in Queens.  I signed up using an alias and made a name for myself down in the ring. Anytime I got beat up too badly I’d come up with a clever excuse that seemed plausible.  

It managed to work for my friends as well as aunt Karen and uncle Foggy, uncle Matt obviously is hard to lie to (human lie detector after all) so I’ve been practicing how my tone should sound if I was being ‘interrogated’.

I walked up to the building and showed the bouncer my fighter’s ID and he allowed me in.  Inside on the main level was your basic club with flashing lights, adults (mostly college kids) dancing, twerking or whatever the hell they do nowadays.  I then walked over to the other bouncer that guarded the back entrance where the fight ring was.

I showed him my ID and he greeted me.

“Welcome back Éowyn.” Yes I used a fake name to get in here but hey not my fault they don’t ask for any birth certificates or Social Security. They just want a name, and to sign a waver not putting them responsible for any life long injuries or potential death. He opened the door and I walked down the stairs where the real magic was.

There stood a descent sized boxing ring surrounded by a metal cage like how you see on TV.  People were already in the catwalks getting ready for the shows tonight.  I walked to the back room where the lockers were and saw the other fighters training or changing into their fighting clothes.

Every fighter looked to be in their late 20s to mid-30’s, possible a couple of them in their 40s trying to make it in with the young crowd and then there’s me, the youngest out of everyone.  Like I said, I made a name for myself here.

Everyone that has ever doubted me because of my size, they soon know why they call me “The Bobcat”.  I finally reached my locker and got out my fighting clothes and quickly changed clothes.  Once I was prepped with boxing tape wrapped around my hands I headed on off to the small gym area where all the fighters go to warm up before the fights.

As I was at the punching bag doing some rapid punches, getting a few kicks in and working on my dodges, all I kept thinking was about my mom and her killer.  He is the inspiration between all my hard punches and kicks.  My anger boiled as I pictured his face, my mother’s cut up corpse when they asked me to ID her, the closed casket I was forced to have for her funeral since it was such a gory way for someone to be buried.

When the clock struck 7pm it was fighting time.

A couple of fights went on before me until I was finally called up to face up against ‘Goliath’.  A tall 6’4 bodybuilder with muscles on his muscles.  His face was all scarred up from knives and had two full sleeves (for those that don’t know that means tattoos that literally cover his whole arm).  Along with the nerve to have a Nazi cross tattooed on his neck.

“Shouldn’t you be in pre-school little girl?” he mocked me.

“Shouldn’t you be Captain America’s bitch? Guess I’ll have to make you mine since he missed one.”

“If anyone’s gonna be crying like a little bitch it’s you little girl!” he snarled at me pointing at me.  I grinned smugly at him as we both got into fighting stance.

“GOLIATH VS. BOBCAT!! TWO ENTER THE RING BUT ONLY ONE WILL LEAVE. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN……LET’S GET READY TO RUUMMMBBBBBBLLLLLEEE!!”

The bell dinged and our fight began.  Goliath tried an overhand punch down at me but I quickly slid between his legs and gave him a good side-kick in his ass.

“No wonder Nazis were so easy to arrest, you guys suck at physical confrontation.” I mocked him.  He growled and came at me again.  I sent a couple of punches into his gut before dodging his next coming punch. I then went to kick him again but he grabbed my leg and picked me up.

He had me rested over his shoulders with his hand squeezing down on my throat.

“Time for little baby to be put to bed.” He then hopped in the air and body slammed me to the ground.  His heavy ass crushing underneath me and of course the after-shock of being slammed into the ground can seriously knock the wind out of you. I could hear the crowd either cheering or booing while Goliath praised his victory.

Slowly I got up into a cat-like pouncing position allowing my rage to boil as I finally unleashed “The Bobcat”.  I roared as I raced right toward him and clung onto his back. Digging my nails as deep into his muscles as I could, scratching and clawing him.

Of course I knew a guy this big and muscley he would just find it annoying.  But when the claws don’t work well—I’m sure you can figure out the next part.  Right over his insulting Nazi cross tattoo on his neck, I bit hard into his skin making him scream and holler in pain.

Now that he was distracted I used my momentum and his own body weight to bring him down (almost like how Black Widow fights).  I grabbed Goliath’s arm and pushed it as far back as I could until I heard the snap of his shoulder.  He screamed in agony as I finished him off with a kick to the face knocking him out.

The crowd cheered and the ref came up and lifted my right hand in the air as the crowd cheered my nickname.  For the rest of the night I did a few more fights, some I won easily but others proved to be a challenge.

By the end of the night I took a good look at myself and saw my lips and teeth were stained red, my right eye was swollen shut, my left temple was cut up, I could feel my organs had probably been rearranged, and I could have some cracked or even broken ribs.  I put the fighting clothes back in my locker, cleaned myself up as best I could then proceeded to head back to my Queen’s apartment knowing I couldn’t face my uncles or Karen looking like this.

Suddenly someone came out from behind me, covering my mouth to prevent me from screaming.  I was just about to fight back when I felt something stick into my neck and immediately my vision grew blurry until finally it all went black.

“Well you didn’t need to put a bag over her head.” A voice spoke up.

“Boss you know of our confidentiality.” Another voice spoke up.

“Oh please she maybe a fighter but she’s still a kid. I know someone like her and she doesn’t need to be treated like an enemy. Take it off of her!” I was then hit with a bright light and the smell of what smelt like a feast made for a king.

When my vision came back into focus I saw before me some men in black suits holding guns followed by a fairly large man.  He wore a nice tailored suit, was bald, and stroked some prized cufflinks that were attached to the sleeve of his suit.

“So sorry about the bag dear girl. My associates believed you to be an enemy even before we got the chance to meet each other.”

“Where am I?” I asked groggily trying to shake off the drugs (or whatever the hell it was).

“A safe place. A place amongst friends. You don’t need to worry about a thing, (Y/n) Perry.” I looked at this man with a stoic face, however internally I was freaking out.

“I’m…..afraid you’re mistaken. My name is Éowyn Ryder.” I lied to him.

“See a liar already. And almost a good one too but you still might wanna work on that. Your eyes really do tell when you’re lying kid. Chicken? Or do you prefer turkey?” I looked down and saw that the feast I was smelling earlier wasn’t the concussion.

Before me was a full buffet of almost every food known to man. Meat, vegetables, fruits, wine and beer.  A buffet fitting a king as I stated earlier.

“Who are you?” I asked.  The man softly grinned and he said to me as he walked over to me.

“An admirer of yours.”

“Uhh pal you do realize I’m 16. That’s going way beyond the edge of creepy and illegal.”

“No, no, no, no you misunderstood me kid. I mean I’m an admirer of your fighting abilities. See, there is only one other young woman that I knew of who could fight with the ferocity and rage that you do. My niece. Well not by blood but I look at her as a niece anyway. My point is, I’ve been watching your matches and I believe I could help make you into a better fighter.”

“Sorry but I’m good. I fight my own style.”

“A woman willing to fight her own way. I like it. But—what if I offered you another ultimatum.”

“Such as?”

“Your mother’s killer.”

My heart stopped and my lips softly parted.

“I’ve seen the papers. God such—such a brutal, horrific, savage way to go. I-I-I-I personally cannot imagine what that did to you. To have to ID your mother in such a state. And at such a young, vulnerable age no less. Being a teenager is hard enough as it is but to be exposed to something like that. Jesus.”

“How do you know where her killer is? Not even the police could find him?” I snarled lowly tightening my grip onto my chair.

“That’s the thing with the system. They say they’ll take care of a missing person’s case, or try to find the killer. But after a few short months they give up.”

“No. No. M—my uncle told me they tried of over a year.” I tried to say.

“I’m afraid he lied to you sweetheart. The cops they—they didn’t see your mother worthy enough to be continued. They just—flagged it and moved on to the next case.” He told me.  

How could they do this? They-they promised me they would find her. She was the best Defense Attorney in all of the West Side of Manhattan.

“Where is he?!”

“Now hold on. I admire your passion and thirst for revenge but—you’ll need proper training in order to make this bastard suffer. Raw rage alone won’t instill fear into him, you gotta be smart about it. Swift, clever then finally go in for the kill. What do you say, Bobcat?” his hand gripped my shoulder and I looked up at him.

“You never told me your name.”

“Fisk. Wilson Fisk. At your service my dear.” He said with a grin.

“(Y/n) Perry. At yours.”

[mamamittens]

Trick or Treat

Day #14 of Spooktober (no, you're not missing a post, I've just delayed #13 for a few days)

Fandom: One Piece (Everyone is young and nothing hurts AU)

Ship: None

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1,039

Bit of a weak end but I deeply underestimated how much work would ride my ass this month, and I need to shower and go to bed like... now lol. So this is mostly just for cuteness and to 'finish' on Halloween, don't look too deep into it.

Ace tightened the bow under Luffy’s chin, the seven-year-old bouncing on his heels with excitement, dark eyes wide and gleaming. Despite his best efforts, Ace couldn’t help but smirk.

“Think you can keep your costume on all night, Luffy?” Ace asked, stepping away to admire the completed look. Makino did good work putting together the patchwork cloak for Luffy’s ‘ghost’ costume, tied securely with a bright red ribbon around his neck that matched the straw hat he refused to go without. She was also the one who made the gloves and wolf ears for Ace himself, along with helping Sabo apply the vampire makeup. Out of the three of them, Sabo had the least amount of work to do, having plenty of spare fancy clothes to work with.

“Yeah! You wait and see, I’ll have my costume on all night!” Luffy reassured him. Ace snorted, rolling his eyes. He refused to believe he was so childish at that age.

Obviously, at the much wiser age of twelve, Ace knew more than Luffy did. Which is why he agreed to dress up with his baby brother to begin with. Knowing Luffy as he did, he would probably follow some random stranger around for extra candy if he thought he could get away with it. Sabo rolled his eyes and smiled.

“Sure you will, Luffy. Remember to thank Makino before we go!” Sabo reminded him. Luffy froze in shock, horrified suddenly.

“Oh no! I almost forgot! Thank you, Sabo!” Luffy cried out, racing back to the house where Makino stood with a bowl of candy and a patient smile. Luffy leapt up, latching his arms around her neck as she laughed, trying not to drop Luffy or the candy. “Thank you Makino-nee! Mwah!” Luffy pressed a messy, childish kiss to her cheek before dropping back down and rushing back to their side.

“Are you going to thank Makino too, Ace?” Sabo asked with a sly grin, plastic fangs poking out from his lips. Ace sputtered and hissed.

“Shut. Up!” Ace bristled at the reminder of his crush, but otherwise ignored the comment. He’d thank Makino by giving her some of his candy later. Huffing, he stormed away, not waiting for his dumb brother to catch up as he laughed.

“Hey! Hey! Where are we going first, Ace? Can we go to Gramp’s house? Last year he gave out whole rotisserie chickens!” Luffy cheered. Ace shuddered at the reminder.

“Uh—absolutely not.” Ace muttered nervously, mind viciously flashing back to the running they had to do to keep the chicken. “H-Hey! How about we see if Law will join us?” Ace distracted his little brother. Sabo cocked a brow and smirked again.

“Traffy! Yeah! Let’s get him! C’mon Ace! C’mon Sabo!” Luffy cheered, dashing ahead of them to the fancy house at the end of the street.

Law was dressed up as a mad scientist, white lab coat splattered with fake blood and black gloves on his hands. Ridiculous hat still in place as he glared Kid, who was dressed in an excessive amount of leather alongside his friend Killer, like they belonged in a biker gang.

“Ah. Luffy. Are we going together?” Law sighed. Luffy, quite naturally, exploded with excitement.

“Yeah! We’re going to Gramp’s house last to see if he gives us meat again!” Luffy cheered.

“The hell we are!” Ace bit out reflexively, heart shuddering. Knowing their luck, they’d have to navigate a haunted maze to ‘earn’ anything. And trying to bully Luffy through a scary event was well past what Ace wanted to do with his time tonight.

“Tsk, let’s just get this show on the road, losers.” Kid snarled. And so, three became six.

Later, if he was asked, he would claim to not know when the hell their small group became a small army of children. Ussop joined with Sanji and Chopper—a knight, prince, and magician respectively—followed by Nami dressed as a witch dragging a samurai Zoro. Brook snuck in somehow with Franky, Robin, and his own friend Deuce. All four dressed as ‘tourists’ in Hawaiian shirts with a large, white cardboard frame for a ‘picture’.

Their first victim was, also naturally, Shanks. Dressed as Freddy Krueger, he laughed loudly and passed them each king-sized chocolate bars with a wink. Buggy scoffed, business suit with devil horns and wings downright subdued to his normal attire. Naturally, he handed out small packets of cotton candy when asked politely. All the while acting as though he had no idea why anyone was bothering him so late at all.

Crocodile didn’t have any costume at all and gave them a single snack size snickers bar, a trend that followed with all of Gramp’s colleagues.

“Well, look what we have here! Fine, well-behaved children ready to pay the toll!” Doflamingo crowed, looming over them from behind his gate.

Ace hissed at him alongside Law.

“The hell we are!” Ace shoved Luffy behind him.

“Hello uncle.” Law muttered in disdain. “Does dad know you’re trying to bully kids for candy again?” Law asked with a sneer.

Doflamingo sniffed, head jerking away at the implication.

“Your candy haul sucks anyway.” Doflamingo clicked his tongue and stalked away without another word.

“Ah! Luffy! Look who I brought!” Ace’s head snapped in the direction of Jinbe’s voice. The fishman was dressed up as a ghost too, a sheet with holes covering almost his entire body. Behind him was a familiar group of older kids.

“Pineapple!” Luffy cheered, bounding up the street to tackle Marco’s leg. He was, in fact, dressed up as a pineapple. How literally anyone managed that, Ace had no idea. Thatch snickered beside him, dressed as a cowboy alongside Izo, who made a very convincing naval captain (Gramps was going to lose it if he sees the costume and the last thing Ace wanted was to sit around while Gramps and Pops argued for three hours about them joining the Marines again).

“Alright! Looks like the party’s really getting started!” Thatch cackled, ruffling Ace’s hair as he dutifully inspected everyone’s costumes. “Hey, I hear there’s a corn maze and hay rides on the other side of town. Pops agreed to give us a lift if you wanna try it out!” Thatch grinned, winking at Ace.

Ace could feel his face flush in embarrassment despite nodding.

His family was large, noisy, and ridiculously everywhere he turned but… he really wouldn’t have it any other way.